Attempts have been made in the past to mold composite plastic articles having a plastic film fused or otherwise adhered to an outer surface of the plastic article. The adhered film was applied for decorative purposes or to provide indicia receiving or indicating surfaces on the composite plastic part. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,458 to Hallauer et al shows a method of decorating plastic articles formed by injection molding in which a foil bearing markings in the nature of ornamentation or inscription is united with the plastic article. However, the film used in the method described in the Hallauer et al patent can only be applied along the main parting line of the mold and only across the entire surface of the article which is positioned along the main parting line. Further, as can be seen in FIG. 3 of this patent, the piece of film which is fused to the injected molded plastic article is not embedded in the molten plastic because the edges of the piece of film are located entirely outside of the molten plastic article. The lack of embedding of the edges renders the attached strip of film more easily removable from the molten plastic article.
Another attempt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,244 to Eisenberg. In the Eisenberg patent, the adhesive coated film 12 is applied along the main parting line of the mold and covers one entire surface of the molded product 48.
Another process for molding a multi-colored or multi-material part in one step is described in an article in Plastics World magazine, April 1977 edition, published by Cahners Publishing Co., Inc., 221 Columbus Avenue, Boston, Mass. 02116. The article, at page 75 of the magazine, describes an injected molded process in which a plastic film is encapsulated in an injected molded product. However, the film can only be inserted along the main parting line of the mold and the edges of the plastic film are completely encapsulated in the molten plastic article.